March 8, 2005:  First real smile when he sees me or hears my voice

Realized that he has a hand attached to his body.  Stares at his hand and fingers

Stays awake a lot more often

Attempts to sit up.  Working his abdominal muscles (crunches)

Rolls over onto his side but not yet onto his belly (getting close)

May 13, 2005:  Laughed a real laugh when I would make fart sounds with my mouth on his inner thigh or when I would tickle him on his belly or thigh

A whole lot of cooing & a whole lot of drooling

Loves holding peoples fingers as a form of relaxation.  He does this to fall asleep or relax himself when crying

May 25, 2005:  First time on an airplane (from NY to NC)

May 30, 2005:  Rolled over on his own from his back onto his stomach

June 8, 2005:  Rolled back from his stomach onto his back (however, he doesn't seem to do this much)

Starting to grab toys or anything at arms reach and brings it to his mouth

Always smiles when he sees Liat ... absolutely adores Liat

Responds to his name or better yet his nickname "Don Don"

Holds his toes (sometimes he even does this in his sleep...really cute)

Pulls pacifier out and tries to bring it back to his mouth.  Most of the time he gets it in backwards

June 12, 2005:  First time having Rice cereal with some formula.  Most of it went all over his face and clothing...and of course he made some strange faces...but he ate some

June 23, 2005:  First time having Oatmeal.  Didn't seem as fond of this as of the rice cereal.  So I am sticking to the rice cereal

June 26, 2005:  First Gerber experience...Peas.  He seemed to like it, but ate very little of it

Starting to sit alone

Stares at all the food we eat and tries to grab it

Falls asleep to me massaging his back and head

Started drinking or trying to drink from a sippy cup

Makes these loud high pitch sounds like a dinosaur ... I call his Idanosaures

Began walking in the walker

Moves backwards while laying on his belly

Tries to get into the crawling position ... almost there

Started putting him in his crib at night to sleep.  Well at least for half the night

Began eating yogurt

Gets into this weird looking bear walk...on all four and his back arched up

August 30 2005:  Pushed himself from his stomach to sitting up

Grabs onto people or furniture and tries to pull himself up to the standing position...he succeeds sometimes

September 5, 2005:  Noticed one of his bottom teeth out

September 9, 2005:  Began crawling...one step and then he laid down.  He sat up, crawled again and then fell

Does a whole lot of babbling and cooing...VERY CUTE SOUNDS!

Can only fall asleep when I am holding him and his hand is in my mouth.  Sounds weird but it is true.  It's actually very annoying since if I pull his hand out he cries.  I guess that is his way of shutting me up.  Ha ha ha

September 12, 2005:  Actually began crawling the right way

Pulls himself up on the coach, toys, people, etc and stands up for a while

Decided to put him in the crib at night and let him fall asleep and stay there the night.  First night he cried for 2 hours.  Second night for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Third night for about 20 minutes.  And now he just deals with it and doesn't waist that much more then 2 minutes crying before falling asleep

Crawls under Mocha.  Loves playing with Bana's tail

November 8 2005: First time drinking Danimals from a straw all by himself.  He loved it

Climbs over things (boxed, beam at gymnastics).  Tries to make it up the first stair

Loves playing with the dog food and water.  He made a game of it.  We chase him and say "I am gonna get you" and he crawls super fast to the food and water

Pulls himself up on everything and attempts to take a few steps

Able to stand up alone for a short while

Walks/Dances around the living room with the support of the Bimba

A lot of babbling and saying Daaa...

Loves to Drum with his hands on anything (floor, people, toys, dogs, etc)

Food Hog.  Will eat anything and I get tired of feeding him before he rejects food

Lays on his stomach and kicks his legs.  Really cute!

Now instead of putting his hand in my mouth to fall asleep, he literally puts it down my shirt.  It is really funny.  He takes his hand and puts it between the boobs....Good hand warmer  :)

First birthmark came out...on the top right side of his nose, close to his eye

November 17, 2005:  First time standing up in crib...crying for me to get him out

Whenever he hears music he bounces (his form of dancing for the time being)

Climbs up the stair case (really fast).  Climbs up on the couch using toys to prop him up.  Climbs on the little kids table and tries to balance himself on it

November 30, 2005:  Two upper middle teeth are coming in

November 30, 2005:  Plays a game with his pacifier where he puts it in my mouth then in his and back in mine and he does this for a while...really cute!

Says Dada, even though Mama does all the hard work...figures :)

Crawls on his hands and toes and really fast that he looks like a spider.  We call him spider baby

December 5, 2005:  Took his first steps without holding on anything.  He walked toward Liat.  It was so exciting!  Later that day he attempted to walk many times (toward me, Ilan, Mocha, etc.)

December 6, 2005:  First time he slept through the night (8:30 pm - 6:30 am).  You can only imagine how many times I woke up thinking if he's okay

Thus far this past month has been his most developmental month yet...so many new things happening!

Third tooth coming out on the bottom (total teeth 5:  2 on top and 3 on the bottom)

Shakes his head no no when we say ah ah ah or no no no.  When he doesn't want something (food, position he's in, etc) he also shakes his head no

Started Walking (with speed).  No more crawling

January 9, 2006:  I taught him how to clap his hands. 

Started saying Mama...took him long enough

Points at things that he wants...food, phone, remote control, etc.

Throws a minor tantrum when he's hungry and we aren't ready with the food or when for example we are feeding him chicken and he wants the potatoes he sees on the plate.  Or if he wants ketchup on his food he will throw his little tantrum until I put the ketchup on it.  And if I am feeding him and he wants juice...he does the same crazy tantrum.  Annoying but really funny

Before he goes to sleep he walks back and forth between Ilan and me...we call this his night time laps

When he wants to nod his head (as though to say yes) he lifts his head really far back as though looking at he ceiling

Nicely takes his finger to press the button on his toys

Enjoys looking at the fish tank and following the fish with his eyes and finger

We think he finally understands not to go to the dog food and water...although he comes really close...okay actually I was mistaken, he still plays with the dog food and water

Takes his hand or the remote or the phone and puts it to his ear and waits for us to say "Hello Don Don" as though he's really on the phone

Straddles his legs and folds his upper body down between his legs to pick up the pacifier with his mouth using no  hands...really funny

Started feeding himself (not with a spoon since it gets really messy)

When he holds a pen in his hand he searches for the paper to doodle on and then draws lines

No more breast feeding.  Hip Hip Hurray!

Sits next to a wall and rocks back and forth so that he bangs is head on the wall.  Very weird!!!

January 15, 2006: First time sleeping in twin size bed

Sits on command and even when we tell the dogs to sit he sits

Gives high five

Loves cleaning up.  If he sees me or anyone else start cleaning up, he rushes over and starts helping. It's Great!

Loves getting his socks and shoes on.  All I need to do is say or show him his socks and shoes in he sits down waiting to get them on

Has a bunch of teeth coming out on top

January 30, 2005: First sneaker...long overdue (and yes Saba and Safta bought it)

Loves music and dancing.  If he hears music he automatically starts dancing...so cute

Gives kisses on command.  He approaches you with his mouth wide open to your mouth

Bends over as though he is going to do a forward roll (and he gets really close), but he just looks between his legs

Fourth bottom tooth coming in

Top right molar coming in

Waves bye-bye

February 22, 2006: No more pacifier. A friend suggested a way to get him off the pacifier was to snip the tip and every few days cut a little bit more until the child no longer wants the pacifier because there's really nothing to suck on.  Well, we tried that for less then a day.  The first (and only) night we tried this he noticed something was different and he didn't like it.  He made all these weird faces, kind of suggesting "what's wrong with my pacifier?"  In the middle of the night he woke up wanting it and he noticed he could put his finger in this new opening.  This entertained him for about a minute and then he cried because he just wanted his good old pacifier back.  The next day whenever he saw one of his pacifiers he would rush to it and low and behold it had a weird hole in it.  He was super frustrated and he would cry bloody murder.  So in the end I just threw all the pacifiers away and he stopped using the pacifier cold turkey (just like his sister did).  However, I saved one pacifier to show him in a few months to see if he will react to it the way he did prior.  Sort of like Pavlov's Dog...will he hear the sound and remember his pacifier?

He blows kisses, but sometimes he puts his finger in his mouth and pulls it out making sort of a popping sound (and that's his way of blowing a kiss, sometimes)

First word: Dog; sometimes he says Gog for dog.  But he refers to everything dog (people, animals, things, etc.)

Started saying Mocha or Ocha.  And sometimes it sounds like he is trying to say good girl or goo gir

Makes nice to the dogs, aka, pets them

First ear infection (right ear) and thank god not so sever

Picks his hands up in the air and turns around many many many times

Takes the dog food in his hand and feeds the dogs...drives us crazy

Copies everything he sees Liat doing

Started pushing Liat back.  When they both try to get a toy or if they both want me, they'll push each other to get what they want.  Hey, she taught him how to push...I guess it serves her right!

March 11, 2006: First time on a carousel.  Handled it very nicely...no tears shed...hurray!

March 18, 2006: First time on a boat (Liz's wedding)

And still he eats everything and anything

March 20, 2006: He learns to turn the power button on the TV.  After he presses the button On or Off he turns around and claps for himself...so funny!

Identifies in Hebrew where his nose (aph)  and head (rosh) and tongue (lashon) are

Understand pretty much everything we say to him (go throw in the garbage, give to Liat, sit, do you want shoes, etc.)

May 17, 2006:  First haircut

Became Mr. Independent: wants to do everything by himself.  Tries to feed himself with a fork or spoon.  He has not yet perfected this skill so he tends to make a big mess.  But he does improve greatly every day with the use of utensils

Says "buh buh" when he's trying to say bye bye

Waves bye bye with his hand.  For a short while he would put the back of his hand on his head and then wave goodbye (as though he was saluting someone).  This was awkward but really funny

Clicks his tongue on the roof of his mouth

Loves flushing the toilet in the bathroom.  So whenever he sees someone (especially Liat) going to use the bathroom he is right behind so as to not miss the opportunity to flush the toilet

Loves to clean.  Picks stuff up and puts it away.  Takes clothes out of the washing machine and hands it to me to put in the dryer.  Takes the utensils out of the dishwasher and hands it to me to put away.  Takes wipes and starts cleaning the table, couch, whatever he can reach.  If his hand or face gets even slightly dirty he wants it cleaned.  Ahhhh, what a proud mother I am! :)

Tries to take pictures with the camera, although he doesn't press the button yet

When he sees the camera on him, or when we tell him to say cheese for a picture, he says "yeahhhhh"

May 22, 2006: First time at the beach (not in the water, Long Beach, NY)

Wants to do everything Liat does.  This is really cute but at times also annoying

And yes the sibling rivalry has begun...pushing, pulling hair, pinching, etc.

Started sitting through some TV shows, especially the Hebrew DVDs (Saba Tuvia, etc).  Liat was the same exact way

When we tell him something is hot, he puts his mouth really close to it and blows on it

Sometimes when we hold him he puts his head on our shoulders (like he wants to go to sleep, wishful thinking!)

Enjoys sitting in the Fire truck and being driven around

When  we ask him a question (who, what, where, when, why) he shrugs his shoulders and puts his hands out to the side and says "ahh" as though wondering what the answer is

Loves brushing his teeth, and because he sees his sister spit mouthwash, he learned how to spit...he does it pretty good

Loves when we sing to him.  He sort of tries to sing along by going "ahhh".  His favorite song is "Nod Ned" (in Hebrew that means swing)

Refuses to talk.  Even words that he used to say he no longer says.  Gets everything he wants by pointing to it, getting it himself, or nodding his head yes or no...process of elimination

When we ask him what does a bird do, he flaps his arms like a bird

When we ask him what sound any animal makes, he always makes some sort of fart sound

June 12, 2006: Stopped going to sleep with a sippy cup...only because we took it away from Liat at night and he is literally her shadow

July 6, 200: First time at the NY Aquarium (Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY).  Idan got kissed by a sea lion

July 7, 2006: First time at the American Museum of Natural Science, absolutely loved the gem room.  It was like a play gym for him

July 8 2006: Went to a fair in Long Island, NY and went on a pony ride for the first time.  Also went on children rides for the first time (little rollercoaster, giant slide, and more).  Very Exciting!

Loves singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  He also does the hand gestures really well

Began liking to go to the pool.  But even more so loves running around the edges of the pool and giving me and Ilan a heart attack

Absolutely adores Play-doh.  And when I take it out of his hand, he has a hissy-fit

August 5, 2006: First time at the movie theatre.  Went to go see Ant Bully in 3D in an Imax theatre.  He sat through about 15 minutes and was ready to go.

Plays with toy cars and tries to make their sound

Likes looking up to look for birds or planes

Makes this "iss" sound and uses it when he talks his language (I guess only he really know what is means)

Knows how to turn on my camera and take pictures

He is by far the best at giving hugs and kisses.  He grabs so tightly that I could let go and he'll be hanging from me.  And whenever he gets hurt he just leans over to get a hug or kiss.  It's great!  He's my Mr. Affectionate

Liat, Idan, and I have this little thing where we put our hands together and say "1, 2, 3 Best Team."  We then throw our hands in the air and say "Yes Yes Yes."  So Idan does it and then says "yes yes yes" while pumping his arms....Really cute

Started giving Eskimo kisses, we refer to it as Nose to Nose.  Sometimes when he wakes up in the morning and I am still sort of sleeping he starts doing nose to nose... it's really cute

Learned how to say "Shhh" and put his fingers to his lips while saying it.  This he learned from singing The Wheels on the Bus...

Does a forward roll

Shakes hands

Started swimming in the bath tub ... actually he jumps more like a frog

Now when we ask him what does a frog do, he jumps like a frog, or his version of how a frog jumps

Loves playing dress up...her wears Liat's princess shoes (with little heals) drives Ilan crazy...Hey well at least they're blue

Likes it when Mocha kisses him...he opens his mouth really wide so Mocha can really get in there

Laughs a real boy laugh...I love this laugh

Became a true Problem Solver.  He wants to get the keys from the key holder on the wall or when he wants to unlock the front door, he pushes their little kid table to the proper location and then climbs the table for height to get whatever it is he wants

Loves playing puzzles.  Every day, especially before he goes to sleep he plays puzzle for at least  30-40 minutes.  His favorite puzzles to work on currently are the shapes and animal puzzles

Knows how to make an elephant sound

Began driving the Fire truck or our neighbors 4 by 4.  He hasn't mastered the steering yet

When he eats/drinks, he rubs  his belly and says "mmmmm."  He will also rub Ilan's, Liat's, or my belly and say Mmmm for us.  How does he know if we really like the food/drink? : )

Likes kicking the ball outside and throwing the big Frisbee and likes playing with toy cars.  Saba and Safta bought him numerous remote control cars, some which are difficult for him to steer, so he hold the car in one hand (the car is almost bigger then him), hold the remote control in the other hand and doesn't let anyone touch it or help him drive it

October 2006: His top K9 teeth came in

Started taking the Flintstone vitamins.  Every morning he waits for me to hand it him and then I give him Liat's gummy vitamin and he rushes to give it to her and make sure she takes it

Learned how to squint in his cute sort of way (he essentially closes his eye really tight and his  mouth is stretched open)

Finally said a word: NO, and boy does he know how to use it

Say Ba Ba for Saba

Says "uice" for juice

Opens the dishwasher and stands/bounces on the door...drives me crazy

No longer really likes bananas...at least not the way he used to

Can bounce on the bouncy ball by himself with no parental help....Halleluya

November 24, 2006:  Got a purple bead stuck up his nose.  I got all worried and called Ilan and told him he needs to come home.  He said to try and get it out with tweezers.  I was too nervous that I would hurt him, push it further up, etc.  I refused to do it.  Ilan said he would be home in 30 minutes so Liat, Idan, and I sat on the floor waiting.  I started to cry because I was worried, then Liat started to cry because she saw me cry, and of course Idan started to cry because the two of us were crying.  Moments later, Liat picked up a bead from my lap and I told Idan to look up so that I could confirm it was the same purple bead that was up his nose.  It was!  I guess from the crying and his boogers it made the bead slip out. 

Does thumbs up and tries to show me scissors with his hands but instead of putting his fingers sideways and cutting, he puts his fingers on top of each other and cuts...very cute

Trying hard to say words.  Ilan got him to say Blue (11/26/06)

Started doodling.  He takes a pen/pencil/crayon/marker and lays down and starts to color on the paper.  He seems like he's focusing hard because sometimes he sticks out his tongue.  He gets that from his dad

Upper canine teeth came in

Absolutely loves playing DDR (Dance Dance Revolution).  He turns on the XBox, makes sure the games is in, puts the mat down, turns the mat on, turns the TV on and then waits for us to put the TV on the right channel

Bottom canine teeth came  in (December 2006)

Hates brushing his teeth.  (But I get him to do it, most of the time :) )

Enjoys playing on our pool table/air hockey.  He actually follows the rules in air hockey (other then using his hand sometimes)

Loves watching Hebrew DVDs, specifically "Jungle Book" (Much like Liat at this age).  He started dancing the dances from the DVD and making the sounds even before it comes on (that's how many times he's seen it)

Loves playing the Nintendo DS.  And yes he knows what he's doing

If he gets hold of a pen/pencil/crayon/marker he tries to write on everything...floor, furniture, walls, etc., everything but the paper

When he does actually draw on paper he draws a lot of spirals and circles

Sometimes walks on his toes

When he hears music he will bop his head and dance/turn  with his arms out to the side and his head slightly tilted (really cute)

If he or someone around farts, he laughs (much like his father)

Constantly taking off his diaper and running around the house

Knows when he pees/poops in his diaper...so he takes his diaper off and if there is poop...oh, what messy hands he gets...Yucky!

Trying real hard to talk.  He says: not this, peas (please), up, poop, Mamma, Dadda, Mog (Moglee), cheese (when we ask him to smile at the camera), now,  sit, down, door, boo boo, boobies, and some other words that don't really sound like what he's trying to say, but we know what he means.  For the word yes he says either yes or es (really it sounds like ass)

In Hebrew & English he can identify: head, hair, nose, eyes, ears, tongue, teeth, butt, stomach, hands, and feet.  In Hebrew he knows: bul-bul, poopeek, and some other body parts

We are preparing him for his birthday, so he already knows he it turning two.  When we ask him how old he is, he says "two" and shows us with his fingers.  He takes one finger from each hand, puts them together and says two

Finally likes books.  We read the book and try to get him to say every picture on the page (sun, tree, moon, egg, etc.)

Knows a lot of the animal sounds...dog, cat, elephant, cow, tiger, lion, bear, monkey, pig, horse.  He also mimics the movements of a bird and fish

Loves giving the dog the doggie treats.  But he does make her work for it.  He tells her to sit and points down to the floor

Since he loves copying Liat and Liat likes to tell secrets, Idan, comes to our ear and just whispers nothing....that's his way of telling us secrets

2/11/07:  Hours after turning two and having a cute little get together for his party, he decided to turn around in the living room until he got so dizzy that he fell on the treadmill and busted his bottom lip.  He was bleeding a lot....It was actually kind of scary.

2/12/07:  He must have already gotten tired of being two, since he woke up with 102.5 fever.  Not to worry, it was just a 24 hour bug or something.

He gets such a kick out of turning the TV off when we are watching or turning the light on when we want it off.  So when he does this we usually tell him, no and to turn the TV back on or turn the light back off.  He looks at us and says "peas."  He waits for us to say, "Please turn the TV on" and then he does it.  He's teaching us manners...to say Please.  How funny!

Likes watching CATS the musical on TV (along with Liat who has memorized the dancing and songs by now).  When he wants to watch it, he points to the DVD Player and says Meow.  So I pretend to not know what he wants so he tries to say CATS.  He says ATS.

Says nose, mouth, at (for Liat), back, .  Says "baby" perfectly.  When I start to count he says one, two, and ree (for three), says happy (learned it from the movie Happy Feet), says "uice box" (juice box), open, wash (dishwasher), dog dog ( I am not sure why, but he says it twice...I think it's cute).  The funniest thing he says nowadays is "Oh Man!"  And he says it at the right time (for example, he asked us for more gum and we said know, so he said "oh man").  Says spicy (when he sees the bag of spicy nuts)

Says his first sentence, "Hi Baby."  He says baby perfectly and for some reason whenever we see a baby he just stares and is so interested in the baby

Gives big hugs.  When I tell him to give me a big hug, he squeezes and makes a "arrr" sound, to emphasize how strongly he is squeezing.  Really cute

In the Passover Seder when we take our finger and dip it in the wine 10 times for the 10 plaques, Idan washed his hands in the cup

 April 5, 2007:  Went to go see Go, Diego Go! in Radio City Music Hall.  He was more into the little girl behind us then into the show.  Although there were some parts that he enjoyed

Timeline of Idan's Fingernail Infection:  April 12, 2007- got his finger caught in the wheel of the shopping cart at BJ's Wholesale (since he loves to lay on the bottom of the wagon).  He was bleeding and screaming.  April 14, 2007:  After his finger swelled up to at least twice its size AND it turned every color in the rainbow AND my poor boy was in pain all night and morning, I finally took him to Urgent Care, where the doctor said his finger got infected and that his nail would most likely fall off.  Finally after weeks of his fingernail getting all disgusting and hanging, his nail came off (April 28, 2007)

Loves to eat healthily...salad, fruits, cottage cheese, etc.  (Whereas Liat minimizes the amount of healthy food she eats....hmmmm)

Wakes up in the morning (mostly on the weekends) and sits on the counter helping me cook breakfast for the family.   He washes the vegetables, peels the hard boiled eggs (at least he tries to), mixes the tuna salad, and of course along with all this there's a nice mess for me to clean up

Every morning after he takes his vitamin and gives Liat her vitamin he reminds me to take my vitamin.  I have a box with all the vitamins I need to take in a given day.  He walks around with the box and puts a vitamin on my tongue and gives me a cup of water.  He doesn't stop until I take ALL my vitamins.  That's my boy...looking out for him Mom

The boy loves to throw things.  It drives me crazy.  He throws everything... clothes, toys, sticks, books, shoes, etc.  And he doesn't realize how much some of these things can hurt when he throws it

When he plays or play fights his biggest defense is his nails.  He scratches or better yet claws you when he's play fighting.  It really hurts!

Absolutely loves taking walks.  Every day we take him for a walk from the house around the pond and back home (at least a 1 mile walk)

He's really making an effort to talk.  I would say that he is now officially talking in sentences.  His new words/phrases are: Mom Peas (aka Mom Please), TV, down (when he wants to go downstairs), cool (school), egg, cut, bubb bee (bumble bee), itamin (vitamin), alk (walk), and dank you (thank you)

When he does something and wants someone's attention he says "Watch Me"

When I take Liat to school he points with his finger to the direction I need to go and says "this way, not this way" (pointing to the wrong direction)

When he wants to listen to "Eretz Zafat Chalav" (a Hebrew song) he says "I want Boom-Trach" (because Saba sings the song saying Boom-Trach...so that's how he refers to it now)

When I ask him how much he loves me, he spreads his hands to his back and says "this much"

When he wants me to come somewhere he says "Hurry Up Mom"

Loves watching Wonder Woman (old school).  And loves playing with his Wonder Woman action figures.  And the way he refers to Wonder Woman is "Woman."  How funny!

May 17, 2001:  Got his tooth extracted.  He was standing on the computer swivel chair with a wood whistle in his mouth.  The chair moved a bit and he fell on the floor.  We thought he only hurt his upper lip since it was swollen.  It wasn't until Ilan got out of the shower 15 minutes later that he looked at his teeth and his front tooth was bent all the way backwards, nearly touching the roof of his mouth.  Straight to the Pediatric Dentist to get his tooth pulled.  Ohhhh!

May 31, 2007:  Finally warmed up to the pool.  Up until now he would sit on the stairs and force me to stay with him.  Now he believes me that he could reach the floor in the shallow end and he loves it.  He jumps and inches his way deeper and deeper.  I tell him to hold my hand but he says "No Momma, I do it."  And as the water starts covering his nose he says "Hold me Momma."  Now every day he asks to go to the pool

Liat and him love playing superheroes together.  Together they chase the bad guys, which are usually me, Ilan, Mocha, or some invisible bad guy

Whenever I tell him that he hurt me, he comes to me says "sorry momma" and gives me a kiss.  How cute is that?

Does whatever Liat does.  If she says she wants pink yogurt, he says he wants pink yogurt.  If she says she wants music he says he wants music.  Now having said that, there are times where they want the complete opposite.  She says she wants music, he says no music.  But most of the time he copies her actions and responses

Since he hears Liat saying Yes Mamm, he tries to say it but instead he says "Yes Man"

June 2007: Says "Hi Yah" when he's play fighting.  When someone says Time Out, he does a T with his hands and says "time out."  Started singing the alphabet (skipping many letter, but good attempt)

When he sees Liat go and use the potty he says "Me Pee Pee" and he goes to the other bathroom, pulls down his pants, takes off his diaper, and sits on the potty.  Of course nothing ever comes out.  But a good try nonetheless

Starting asking Why a whole lot.  Liat (or me) could say something and then it starts....Why? and Liat will answer and he will say Why?  This goes on for so long that Liat eventually gets frustrated.  I explain to her that this is how Idan learns things and that she used to do the same thing.  When he hears me saying this to her he says "Mamma Why?"  : )

June 16, 2007: First time tasting Sushi.  He ate 1 or 2 pieces

June 16: 2007:  Found their first Geocache

June 19, 2007: Idan's first day at summer camp.  I left him after about 15 minutes.  I don't think he realized that I left and two hours later I got a phone call that he has been crying for an hour.  They called Liat from the other room.  When he was with Liat he was okay.  So Liat had snack time with the little kids.  Then they sent her back to her group.  The teacher said for about 30 minute Idan stopped crying and that was when they did an art activity where he put sticky things on a hat.  At which point I came to get him.  I guess for the first time, he didn't do to badly.  Right?!  And then when we left he cried that he wants Liat.  He cried for 30 minutes that he wants Liat.  I got him to quiet down with cookies.  Later we went to pick Liat up from camp and he was thrilled to see her.  How cute is that?

Has a top back tooth coming in (explains the pooping 5-6 times a day)

Loves helping me in the kitchen.  He likes washing vegetables for salad (and tasting half of everything he touches + getting half the kitchen soaking wet).  Likes sitting on the counter and just watching me mix and stir and season all the food .  When I ask him to help me set the table, he opens the draw takes forks and puts it in everyone's place

Starting calling us by our names.  Aat or Eaat is for Liat.  He sometimes says it right and calls her Liat.  Aalan is for Ilan.  After a few days we finally got him to say Ilan the right way.  He is able to say Idan.  And sha is for Sharon.  And when he doesn't get our attention fast enough by calling us Daddy or Mommy he calls us by our names.  It sounds so funny!

For some reason unbeknownst to us he started calling Banana, Bonbon.  It sounds really cute

When we go to a store and he wants something, for example, gum... he takes the gum and tells us to go pay with money and he shows us with his fingers money.  Or when I ask him where Daddy is, he shows me with his finger money and says "more money."  We tell them that Daddy has to work to make money.  It's actually really funny to see a two year old rub his fingers and say money

Counts 1,2,3,5,7,10

July 7, 2007:  First time at a minor league baseball game.  Carolina Mudcats Vs. Jacksonville Suns.  He really liked it.  He danced to the music.  He clapped when everyone else clapped.  And in the end when there were fireworks (It was 4th of July weekend) he covered his ears and tried to catch the fireworks, since the looked so close to us.  What a cutie!

July 12, 2007:  Stayed at camp from 9-1.  He didn't even cry when I left.  When he came home I asked him if he cried at school/camp and he said "no, I big boy."  How cute?!  I asked him what he did at school and he said "paint, friends sing, and my teacher changed me (meaning he got his diaper changed)"

Saying a lot more words and sentences: bottle, play-doh, I want tattoo on my leg, I want daddy/mommy now, that's pretty, open this now please, etc

July 13-15, 2007: Went to Asheville, NC.  We visited the Biltmore Estate and when the bus pulled up by the estate Ilan pointed to the house and told Idan to look at the castle and he said WOW in a loud voice...everyone on the bus laughed.  It was a perfect reaction for seeing such an amazing house.  We went hiking in Chimney Rock mountain where we saw a waterfall and Idan climbed up 172 steps.  Then we went on a boat ride in Lake Lure

Loves watching the movie "Flushed Away."  Since we've seen it a million times I tried telling him that it was broken and we cannot watch it anymore.  In his softest voice and with the cutest facial express he said, "but I love flushed away."  How could I say no to that?

Says Mota for Mocha and otay for okay

He loves riding the tricycle (radio flyer) and since it has been so hot here I allowed to bring it in the house one time to ride in the cool a/c.  So now he is always saying "bike inside."  Oops, my bad!

Says "5 cats love me!"  When I ask him how many cats love him he says "5."  I don't know where he got this from

One of his favorite people is Safta.  Calls her up at work 10 times every morning

He is formulating nice sentences: "Ati (Liat) pulled my hair"; "I am a good boy"; "mota move your butt" and many more sentences

He makes his sister proud because he too is a CATS fan.  He sings one of the songs so cute..."Oh Well, Cats!" and the amazing part is that he is on tune

Also makes his sister proud because he learned from her the song "Don't you wish your girlfriend was hot like me, don't you wish your girlfriend was a freak like me..." and the two of them just sing it together

And once again makes Liat really proud because he too is a Tom & Jerry fan

August 16, 2007:  Out of the blue, this cute little boy...yes I am talking about my son, said, "shut your mouth up."  Can you believe that?  Yes it was a jaw dropping moment

Loves taking a paper and asking me to write his name.  He tells me to write it big big big...meaning it needs to cover the entire page

Started to recognize shapes.  Whenever he sees a circle shape he calls it oval

Made some progress in counting: 1, 2, 3, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12

Identifies most colors...FINALLY

August 31, 2007: Started his first day of preschool

Grabs the extra skin on my arms and says to me "I wuv your big muscles!"

September 5, 2007: first time making a pee-pee in the potty...well actually it was in his urinal.  The kids were at the table eating dinner and he was not wearing a diaper or underwear.  He kept on saying he needs to pee so I took him to his urinal.  After many runs to his urinal he decided that he didn't want anyone to watch him pee.  Finally he went on his own.  It was a very exciting moment.  He flushed it and said bye bye to his pee pee.  After peeing in the urinal he said he had to poo and he backed up into his urinal.  Pretty Funny!

September 5, 2007: Believe it or not he got a bead stuck in his nose (AGAIN!).  He took a triangular bead and for some odd reason put it in his nose.  He cried a bit and I tried to see if I could do anything, but it was way up there.  Ilan came home and used some tools to get it out....not to worry we have it on video.  Hopefully we don't have a third incident like this

September 6, 2007:  first time making a poo poo in the potty.  It was a bit messy since he didn't lift his shirt all the way...but still he got it in the toilet and we were very proud of him

September 7, 2007: started staying the full 4 hours at preschool...and he's happy about it

Unbelievable, but he is completely potty trained.  He pees and makes poo poo in the potty.  But as though that's not enough...he keeps his nighttime pull-up dry.  He even tells me he doesn't want to sleep with the pull-up.  He tells me that he will wake up and tell me he needs to pee at night.  How amazing!  And his peeing process is hilarious...most of the time he uses the urinal I got him, other times he pees sitting down (sometimes turning the opposite way), and other times he opens the front door, stands on the porch and pees onto the bushes (Liat thinks that hysterical...it is!)

October 10, 2007:  When I went to pick Idan up from school his teacher approached me and told me that Idan is somewhat of a bully.  WHAT?! My Idan.  NEVER!  Apparently he pushed another child in class and made that child cry

Loves to eat salad and cottage cheese with salad dressing

Helps me cook eggs in the kitchen

Likes to try and write everyone's name

When he wants to spell his name he makes and "I"... a bit sideways, but an I nonetheless

Says "us" instead of we.  Ilan is practicing with him how to say "we" so now Idan says "us-we"

Counts to 20 on his own

Sings the entire ABC on  his own

Loves to watch Dora and Diego or other kids show and interacts with what they are saying/doing.  His favorite now is Super Why...where he is learning so many of his letters and sounds. 

Israel 2007 Anecdotes

Learned some Hebrew words: Ema, Sevivon (driedel), Sheli (mine), etc

When we went to visit Safta Rivka, Safta (Tami) was pushing Rivka in the wheelchair and Saba said to the kids let Safta go in first...Idan said "Which Safta?"

Gave long stares at Safta Rivka...if only we knew what he was thinking

When we pass Raz's school he would point and say "that's Raz's school."

Whenever he crossed the street he put his hand up and said "Stop;" he learned this from Raz who would do the same and say Atzor (stop in Hebrew)

When we went to visit the cemetery he took a big rock to put on my Saba's grave.  Since he saw Saba and Safta kiss the previous graves, as we walked away from my Saba's grave he said oh I forgot and ran back and kissed the grave

Believes he is a ninja with powers.  Ilan explains to him he is a ninja in training.  Sometimes he will say "I just pretend ninja" and other times when he doesn't want to listen to us or follow instructions he says "I no need to, I ninja with powers" (thinking that that will excuse him)

Says “except” instead of “if”

July 2008: Started Summer Camp at Oceanside School #6.

July 2008: When I picked him up from camp one day I told him that I missed him.  He said, "well ask my teacher to stay and then you won't miss me."

Favorite song on the radio now is "It's Too Late to Apologize."  Hmmmm!

September 10, 2008:  Started the 3 year old Pre-K Program.

October 2008: After having a fire drill in school…terrified to go to school, terrified of sound (in the mall, in restaurants)…My kid has been traumatized.

Loves Loves Loves Sashimi, especially the Salmon and Tuna.  Dips it right in the soy sauce and eats it. 

October 22, 2008:  Teacher called me in and said that out of all the kids in the class only Idan and 2 other boys were able to read the entire book In The Dark Dark Woods.  I was so proud of him.

October 24, 2008:  Idan told my father, his grandfather, that he (Saba) is going to die one day.  Saba asked him, what are you going to do when I die?  Idan said, take your money.

October 30, 2008:  Idan is reciting his home phone number (since he hears me practicing with Liat).  And when grocery shopping today, he took a pencil and paper and asked me how to spell his name.  I told him I-D-A-N and then he said what about my other name.  I said Levine, he said, no, Michael.  So I told him how to spell his first, middle and last name and he did a pretty good job…not necessarily in the right order but he tried to write all the letters.

Has been learning a lot from Pre-K and from his sister.  He knows the days of the week; he can count past 20; he spells his name; learned many nursery rhymes (and loves to sing them); and he even knows how to count a bit in Spanish.

November 6, 2008: After more then a month and a half of intense crying and physical force to go to school, today was the first day he did not cry or make me pull him and drag him into class.  It was a good day. Hurray!

November 6, 2008:  I went grocery shopping with Idan and as we were walking down the isle he saw a black gentleman and in a rather loud voice, a pointed finger, and with excitement, Idan said, “There’s Barack Obama.”  Boy was I embarrassed.  Kids will be Kids.

November 12, 2008:  Idan left school holding a girls hand (Julianna). They did not want to part.  It was so cute!

November 14, 2008:  In the past Ilan has shown the kids that if they put their tongue on a 9 volt battery it gives them a small electric shock.  Today Idan and I were patiently waiting on the long line in CVS and so Idan went to the battery rack and put his tongue on the 9 volt battery…even though it was still in its packaging.  Too Funny!

November 2008:  Idan tells me he wants to watch KiWi.  I have no clue what that is.  So he explains to me, “that funny guy that we watched the DVD on TV.”  After thinking about it, I realized who he was referring to.  So I told him, you want to watch Pee-Wee, he said “yes, but I call him KiWi.”

November 2008: Idan hears me practicing with Liat her home address and telephone number that now he knows it himself.  He chimes the house number.  Really Funny!

December 2008:  Has picked up on a lot of the Spanish words that Liat comes home reciting.  He is counting in Spanish and sings some songs with her in Spanish.  .

December 12, 2008:  A few days ago Idan was trying to get into Saba’s computer to play PC games, but there was a password locking the computer.  Idan asked me for the password and I showed it to him one time.  Now whenever the computer locks he types in the password.  Idan tried to play on my computer which also had a password locking it; so he kept on trying to type in the password from Saba’s computer, but it wouldn’t work.  He came to me saying, “Mom, I am typing in the password _ _ _...., but it’s not working.”  I explained to him that every computer has a different password and typed in the password without letting him see.  He said, “No, tell me the password. I want to do it.”  But, my dear son…I am smarter then that.  There is no way I am going to tell you my password, so that you can mess around with my computer!

January 19, 2009: While Idan was playing on nickjr.com, it asked to enter you name.  He started typing N.  So I asked him, "What are you doing?"  He said, "I am writing my name backwards." And on his own he wrote N-A-D-I.  I was impressed!

January 20, 2009: I missed Barack Obama's Inauguration because Idan (and his class, in fact the entire school) were watching it on television. So, us parents had to wait for our kids while they were watching History in the making.

January 26, 2009: After going to the dermatologist with Liat for her really bad eczema, the doctor said that we should avoid baths and instead give quick showers.  So they both had their last bath today.  Shower from here on out!

January 29, 2009:  Idan got his first kiss from a girl.  A girl in his class, named Juliana, loves playing with Idan after school.  They walk out of the class and often hold each others hands.  Today they didn't want to let go when we were trying to go to our cars.  Instead they held on tight.  And when Juliana's mother told her to give Idan a hug and say goodbye, they both hugged each other and she gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek.  So cute!

February 6, 2009:  Woke up in the middle of the night (in my bed) and said to me, "Mom, if the computer is on at night, when no one is using it, it can waist energy."  And then he got up and turned it off (well he just turned the monitor off).  I was so proud of him, that I got up, turned on the lamp so that I can jot this down to add to the milestones, and he said to me, "the light can also waist energy, you should no keep it on."  Idan has Gone Green!

Loves collecting things.  He has a box that he saves all his quarters.  Has another box for all his bouncy balls.  He collects chap sticks (until he breaks them).

February 16, 2009: It's the day after his birthday parties (one in McDonalds and one at home) and Idan woke up telling me, "I need to go poop."  So he's sitting on the toilet and he tells me, "Mom, you want to hear something funny?"  I couldn't hear what he said so I went to the bathroom and he said "Look, Mom, my poop is blue sugar."  And sure enough his poop was all blue.  He was laughing so much!  That's what multiple servings of the Spiderman cake I made for him will do!

February 18, 2009: Went for his 4 year old check up. His stats are: Height 38 1/2 inches; Weight 34 lbs; Passed his hearing test; Passed his vision test

Knows the months of the year, days of the week, shapes and their properties: Circle is round, Triangle has 3 sides, Square has 4 sides that are the same, Rectangle has 2 short sides and 2 long sides, and he even knows Rhombus.

February 25, 2009:  Yesterday Idan went to the doctor (turns out he has strep/scarlet fever).  After starting antibiotics and getting back to his normal wild self, I told Idan that tomorrow he is going to school.  He asked why.  I told him that he is better, he's not sick anymore.  He said, "no the doctor said for 10 days."  I started to laugh.  He said, 'Really, I heard the doctor say for 10 days."  Funny thing is he's not SO wrong.  10 days is how long I need to give him the antibiotics. Pretty funny!

March 2009: He says tomato, "tomato" and potato, "Pomato."  It's really cute to hear him say that!

March 30, 2009: Told me that today at school they learned about the letter "R."  And so on the way home from school we started naming things that start with the letter "R".  We said rainbow, robot, etc. and then Idan said, "Mom, I can't remember the name of the movie, where Apollo dies, that starts with R."  That's right Idan, Rocky!

April 2009:  It was a rainy day and we were just about to walk out the door when suddenly there was a very loud and strong thunder.  Idan got scared and (as a joke) I told him God was mad at us.  Idan refused to go outside.  Later that day when we sat down to have dinner I told him to tell Daddy what he heard when he opened the door and Idan said, "God."

April 2009: It finally sunk in...After much modeling (on Ilan's part) and much discussions on my part, Idan is finally peeing standing up. And he is real proud of himself.

Idan vocabulary is really growing although sometimes he lets out these big words in such funny manners.  For example, sometimes when Liat is talking or bothering him and he is very focused on playing his Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS he say this to her, "Liat you are too loud.  You are annoying.  I can't concentrate."  Ha Ha Ha!

Idan is addicted to his Nintendo DS.  The worst punishment I can give him is taking it away from him. 

Still fights with us every single morning about brushing his teeth.  It's really frustrating.

Loves lemons.

June 30, 2009: Idan was sitting on the couch all slouched up and he had his hands in his undys.  I asked him what he was doing and he said, " My shmekie is long so I am trying to push it back down."  HA HA HA!